The Indian cricket team for the tour to Sri Lanka has many new faces, with Shikhar Dhawan leading the side for the three ODIs and three Twenty20 International series.
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The Indian cricket team for the tour to Sri Lanka was announced on Thursday with Shikhar Dhawan leading the side. The series will comprise of three ODIs and three T20Is and will be played from 13th July to 25th July. All the matches will be held in Colombo. Apart from the appointment of Dhawan, there were plenty of new faces in the side. With the core of the Indian side already in England for the ICC World Test Championship and the five-match series, it was expected that the Sri Lanka series would be a test of India’s immense depth.
The new faces in the Indian cricket team have all had success in the Indian Premier League. Most of these players have had success for their IPL franchises. Be it batsmen or bowlers, all the players will finally get a chance to display their prowess on the international stage. Here is a look at all the new faces in the Indian team for the tour to Sri Lanka.
Devdutt Padikkal has been hailed as the next big thing in Indian cricket. After a fantastic Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali, Padikkal has been making giant strides in the Indian Premier League. Padikkal was the leading run-getter in IPL 2020 ahead of Virat Kohli and AB de Villies. In IPL 2021, Padikkal scored a brilliant century in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s win against Rajasthan Royals. For the Sri Lanka series, Padikkal might get a chance in the Twenty20 series that follows the ODIs.
The Twenty20 International series against Sri Lanka could see a new opening combination in the form of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devdutt Padikkal. While Padikkal has been impressive for Royal Challengers Bangalore, Ruturaj Gaikwad has been the star for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. In the 2020 edition, Gaikwad was laid low with coronavirus but he bounced back in style towards the end. The Maharashtra batsman was in fine form in the 2021 edition of the tournament with some aggressive knocks. His partnership with Faf du Plessis was the key in Chennai Super Kings stating brilliantly.
The left-arm pacer played a big part for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2021. His backstory was filled with tragedy. Before the start of the IPL 2021 auction, he lost his brother. When the IPL was postponed, Sakariya lost his father due to the coronavirus pandemic. With so much tragedy, the India call-up is a big boost for Chetan Sakariya. It is his determination and patience that has gotten him the India cap.
Case of third time lucky? Varun Chakravarthy has endured a torrid couple of months in the 2020/21 season. He failed a Yo-Yo Test which ruled him out of the Australia tour. In the Indian Premier League, Chakravarthy was one of the first players to have been infected with the coronavirus. It was his case and Sandeep Warrier’s that forced the postponement of the IPL. With his bad luck of injuries, Chakravarthy will be hoping that he remains injury free and passes all fitness tests if he has to get the India cap for the series against Sri Lanka.
He was bought by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 9.25 crore in the IPL auction. Krishnappa Gowtham has been a consistent performer in the Indian domestic circuit, especially in the Karnataka Premier League. Gowtham’s consistency in the KPL and his IPL performances make him a valuable asset in the Indian cricket team. The tour to Sri Lanka is the ideal series for India to build a solid bench strength for the ICC World T20 in 2021.
The left-hander has been one of the most consistent performers in the domestic circuit. But, Nitish Rana is also a very curious case. In the IPL, Rana starts well but then fades away as the tournament progresses. With Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav already making a mark in the Twenty20 International series against England, one hopes that Rana can get a chance in the series against Sri Lanka.
In addition to the big squad that they have picked, there are net bowlers in the form of Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, R Sai Kishore and Simarjeet Singh. Porel has been part of Punjab Kings but has gotten limited chances. Warrier also has not had much game time with Kolkata Knight Riders. R Sai Kishore has also not featured much for Chennai Super Kings while Arshdeep Singh is the only notable player to play some games for Punjab Kings. Arshdeep impressed with his pace and variations, especially in the game against Rajasthan Royals.
The only surprise even in this list is Simarjeet Singh from Delhi. The right-arm pacer has played 10 First Class games and 19 List A games. In addition to his 15 Twenty20 matches, Simarjeet is the only player who has not had any form of IPL experience. His last match was the Vijay Hazare competition against Uttar Pradesh. Simranjeet will thus be aiming to get plenty of experience when he is with the Indian cricket team in Sri Lanka.
India will be in hard quarantine from 29th June to 1st July. The quarantine will ease from July 2 to July 4. Players will get a chance to practice or rest from 5th July to 12th July. The last time India toured Sri Lanka was back in 2018 for the Nidahas Trophy tri-series. In that competition, which involved Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, India won the match in a pulsating fashion with Dinesh Karthik hitting a last-ball six. Karthik’s six broke Bangladesh hearts as they failed to win a major tournament and also could not end their losing streak against India.
